The Paletz Law Blog

What To Do If Your Tenant Has Crossed The Line

May 30th, 2018 | By: William J. Trudgeon, Esq.

In Michigan, actions to terminate tenancy usually need to be based on breach of the terms of the lease agreement or the rules and regulations. These actions typically require a 30 Day Notice before suit can be filed.

However, there are some exceptions that have been carved out by the Michigan Legislature when the need to terminate is more time-sensitive and requires immediate action and so, a 7 Day Notice is permitted. One such situation, under MCL 600.5714(e)[1], involves physical violence or the threat of physical violence towards management or another tenant by a current tenant, a member of that tenant’s household, or a person under that tenant’s control. The type of behaviors the statute is intended to prevent ranges from verbal threats of violence on one end of the spectrum to actual assaults on the other.

In either case, in order to trigger the statute’s applicability, local authorities must be contacted and the offender reported. Further, the act or threat must have occurred on property owned or operated by the landlord. It is also important to remember that even though the authorities are contacted, a landlord’s success in a legal action based on this type of 7 Day Notice may depend on whether there was an actual police report created that memorializes the incident.

In the above situation, the landlord may then move forward with the 7 Day Notice for the tenant to vacate the premises. If the tenant fails to comply, the landlord may file a lawsuit with the court. Since we at Paletz Law take the safety and welfare of our clients’ personnel and their residents seriously, we recommend pleading for an immediate Order of Eviction any time a suit based on the 7 Day Notice is filed. However, the success of this will depend on the individual jurisdiction and the factual nature of the incident.

Also, a property owner needs to be mindful that there are some exceptions to being able to use the 7 Day Notice. Such as, the statute will not apply in domestic incidents that involve members of the tenant’s own residence. Further, an action under this section also will not apply if the tenant is in federally subsidized housing as those regulations will supersede this type of Notice.

The Bottom Line: Ultimately, the safety of the landlord, their personnel, and other residents should be paramount. So, if you are a landlord or property manager and you feel threatened, call the police first. Then, your next call should be to your landlord-tenant attorney to restore the line that the tenant has crossed.

The information contained in this article is only meant to be a basic overview and should not be construed as legal advice. Readers should not act upon this information without the advice of an attorney. The contents are intended for general information purposes only and may not be quoted or referred to in any other publication or otherwise be disseminated without the prior written consent of Paletz Law.